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Lowell cruisers among area municipal vehicles in violation

By Samantha Allen, sallen@lowellsun.com

Updated:
03/22/2014 08:33:15 AM EDT

An expired inspection found on a Ford Crown Victoria used by Billerica's Engineering Department. Sun reporters didn't have to look far to find municipal vehicles, including police cars, with expired stickers around the region.
SUN / RICK SOBEY

The Sun sent reporters to sample a handful of police stations after a staff member spotted a city cruiser with an expired inspection sticker at a detail assignment.

At a procession at McCabe Funeral Home on Feb. 12, Car 27 was spotted on the street with an inspection sticker that expired the last day of December 2013. Later that day, after surveying about 30 police and city vehicles in the Mill City, a reporter found two more cruisers and several civilian vehicles on city property that were in violation:

A Ford Crown Victoria cruiser marked Car S2 had a sticker that expired in September 2013.

An expired inspection on the windshield of a gray Ford Crown Victoria used by Billerica's Board of Assessors. A Sun review around the region found municipal vehicles, including police cars, with expired stickers. SUN / RICK SOBEY

It was parked in the main station parking lot off Arcand Drive with the engine running.

An official Ford vehicle, with no markings and license plate number 32X H22, bore an inspection sticker December 2009.

Contacted about the discoveries, police Capt. Kelly Richardson said that sometimes cruisers will have stickers that expire as cars are taken off the road for the winter. The cruisers are then brought back out as it warms up and some cruisers' inspections will be postponed. He said police officers are responsible for making sure their vehicles are in good working order, though.

"(These) are spare vehicles that are used to augment our fleet while newer vehicles are in for repairs and warrant work," Richardson said in an email regarding the three spotted.

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"Lowell Police fleet maintenance utilizes a paperless procedure when an officer inspects the vehicle. Any noticeable mechanical problems are called in and addressed within 24 hours. This inspection would include inspection sticker status."

Richardson added the city maintains more than 200 vehicles for police operations and The Sun's inquiry alerted them to a problem.
"These un-inspected vehicles are unacceptable and all have been addressed," he said. He added he would forward a message out to "the entire organization as a reminder of our responsibility to police ourselves." Richardson clarified in a follow-up email that two of the police vehicles were attended to as of March 13, and another one was "being addressed." A driver receiving a $50 citation for an expired inspection sticker can also get a citation while parked on the street. It's mailed to the owner of the vehicle later. And some insurance companies will penalize a driver for receiving a ticket by adding on points, so a ticketed driver can end up paying hundreds or thousands of dollars years down the line.

A Lowell police officer was also spotted on Feb. 12 exiting what appeared to be a personal vehicle with an expired inspection sticker going back to sometime in 2013 in the station lot, and a civilian Toyota vehicle was also parked in a city employee spot reserved for the chief information officer. That vehicle expired in January 2013. The city's CIO, Mirán Fernandez, was unavailable for comment this week to confirm whether the vehicle belonged to him.

The Sun also sent reporters to police station parking lots in Ayer, Billerica, Chelmsford, Tewksbury, Townsend and Westford. Cruisers in all those lots had up-to-date inspection stickers. However, a reporter checking cruisers in Billerica also found two town vehicles with expired stickers in the lot adjacent Town Hall.

Billerica Town Manager John Curran confirmed one Ford vehicle found on town property on March 4 with an expired sticker from October 2013 was being used by the town engineering department. Another Crown Victoria which expired in January 2014, he said, is still used by the Board of Assessors.

Curran said before a reporter called on March 17 to inquire about the vehicles, the vehicles had already been inspected.

"We got them over the last few weeks," he said. "These are two cars that aren't used very much. They're very old cars that we used but just to get around town."

Curran said one assessor noticed the car with an expired sticker in October had a flat tire recently, and when that person brought in the vehicle for services, its sticker was renewed. Curran said each department is responsible for making sure its vehicles are ready to hit the road, though things may change in the future.

"We're in a transition phase where we've been replacing vehicles with newer vehicles," he said. "We're looking at doing this so we will have all of our vehicles on a maintenance schedule."

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